Furnace-charging apparatus



F. E. THOUTMAN. FURNACE CHARGING APPARATUS. APPLICATION, man ma. 5, 1.919.

u W A 0 M 1. R l w C A m a P wr. .m mm. N\ @(1 na P HL M- F. E. TR'OUTMAN. FURNACE CHARGING APPARATUS. APPLICATIONv FILED MAR. 5. 1919.

Patented Apr. 13,1920.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2- FIG 2 FRANK E. TROUTMAN, OF BUTLER, PENNSYLVANIA.

FURNAGE-CHARGING APPARATUS.

Speccaton of Letters Patent.

Patented Apr. 13, 1920.

Application Ied. March 5, 1919. Serial No. 280,839.

T0 all whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, FRANK TROUTMAN, a citizen of the United States, a resident of Butler, in the county of Butler and State of Pennsylvania, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Furnace-Charging Apparatus; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description thereof.

My invention relates to apparatus for charging or filling the pots in glass melting furnaces.

The filling is usually done at present l either by shoveling the batch into ladles from small batch wagons, or by having these batch wagons provided with a gate and hoisting the wagons by means of a crane and holding it so suspended, or by attaching the wagon to the furnace over the furnace openings.

This necessitates a great number of small batch receptacles and auxiliary apparatus for hoisting or placing them on the furnace.

The ladling is done from the floor and the ladle is moved by hand in and out of the furnace, and to move about the ladling apparatus from one filling position to another is a clumsy and awkward operation.

The object of my invention is to provide apparatus by means of which the pots in glass melting furnaces may be quickly and conveniently charged with a minimum amount of labor.

To these ends my invention comprises the novel features hereinafter set forth and claimed.

In the accompanying drawing, Figure 1 is the side elevation of my improved apparatus, the furnace being shown in section, and the position of the hopper being charged with batch, being shown in dotted lines; Fig. 2 is a plan view showing the parts in charging position with the furnace in section; Fig. 3 is an enlarged plan view of the carriage with the ladle carried thereby broken away; Fig. 4 is a longitudinal section of the ladle housing, and Fig. 5 is an enlarged detail of the switching mechanism.

In the drawin the numeral 2 designates an electrically riven trolley arranged lto run on the underhung tracks 3 between the girders 4 of a suitable electric crane which spans the furnace room and. arranged to travel on the tracks 5. 'This Itrolley is valso ada ted to run over the tracks 3 to the trac-rs 6 leading to the batch mixer or storage bin 7 for charging the hopper 8 carried by the trolley 2.

The framework 9 is made up of structural steel work properly braced and trussed to give the requisite strength.

Supported in the frame-work 9 are the tracks 10 and 11 parallel with each other and arranged one above the other. The track 11 is provided with the inclined portions 12 and 13 and the track 10 with the inclined portions 14 and 15 thereby producing an undulating effect. Furthermore the upper track 10 extends beyond the track 11 or ghe purpose more fully hereinafter set 'ort A carriage 16 is adapted to travel on kthe" tracks 10 and 11, the front wheels 17 of said carriage travelingon the upper track 10, and the rear wheels 18 traveling on the lower track 11. The rails of the track 11 are provided with rack-bars 19, and the pinions 20 mounted with the rear wheels of said carriage engage said rack-bars. A suitable electric motor 21 is provided on the carriage for advancing and withdrawing same, said motor being connected up with the rear axle to drive the pinions 20.

Mounted on the carriage 16 is the housing 22, said housing being swiveled by the vertical pin 23 secured to said housing and extending up into the sleeve 24 provided with ball-bearings 25. A nut 26 at the upper end of said pin secures the housing in position.

lVithin the housing 22 is the ladle-shaft 27 fitting in the ball-bearings 28 in said housing. A ladle 29 is carried at the forward end 0f the shaft 27 and at the rear end of said shaft is the bevel-pinion 30 which engages the rack-segment 31 supported by the carriage 16.

Idle rollers 32 are carried by the housing 22 and said 'rollers engage opposite sides of the guide-rail 33 on the frame 9. At the forward end of the guide-rail 33 is the switch 34 pivotally mounted at 35, and said switch is adapted to register with either one orthe other of the curved guides 36, according to the direction in which it is desired to swing the housing 2 whose rollers 32 may be directed into engagement with one or the other of the curved guides 36.

The furnace 37 is of the ordinary type Cri with the pots 38 arranged therein, and with openings 39, one opening for each two adjacent pots.

lWhen my improved charging apparatus is in use the hopper' 8 having been charged from the bin 7, the trolley 2 is run onto the track 3, and by the electric crane the trolley is moved into position to charge a pair of pots as indicated in Fig. 1. Vhen the parts are in the position indicated in full lines Fig. 1, the ladle 29 ,is in position to receive the batch from the hopper 8, the outlet of the hopper being provided with a suitable gate for controlling the flow of the batch. When the ladle has been filled with the batch the upper gate is closed and the motor 21 is started. This will advance the carriage 16, and as said carriage moves forward toward the furnace the ladle 29 proceeds to enter the furnace through the opening 39 in a straighty line and when once through the door the ladle rises slightly, due to the fact that the wheels 17 advance up the inclined track portion 15, while the wheels 18 descend the inclined portion 13 of the track 11. This slight raising of the ladle'is continued until the ladle has passed the arch-stone 40 on its upward path, and then to avoid striking the edges of the pots it is given a sharper rise by the action of the wheels on the inclined portions of the track 10 and 11 until it is high enough to pass over the tops of the pots. The ladle is now higher than the pots, but directly between them and partly in front of them. As the carriage continues to advance the ladle still rises slightly and the rollers 32 on the housing 22 engage the switch 34 and are directed sidewise by said switch to one of the curved guides 36. This defiection of the rollers 32 also deflects the ladle 29. The outer end of said sha-ft is defiected to a greater extent and the ladle is swung over the pot to be charged. At the same time the pinion 30 moving in the rack-segment 31 turns the shaft about its axis, and the contents of the ladle is deposited into the pot.

The motor 21 is then reversed and the ladle rights itself and at the same time is withdrawn from the furnace on the same path over which it entered, and is brought back again into position under the outlet of the hopper 8 to be filled again.

When one pot has been filled the switch 34 is reversed and the other pot filled in like manner.- The apparatus is then moved to'another opening in the furnace and the pots there are filled, and so on, until all the pots have been filled.

By my invention I provide a very simple and efficient form of apparatus for charging the pots in a glass melting furnace,.tle movement of the ladle from the lill-ing po sition to the charging position being acclirat'ely controlled so that there is no liability of the lad-le striking any part of the furnace. This accuracy of controlling enables me to use a charging opening in the furnace and providing for the charging of two pots from one small opening. Furthermore, the device can be operated with a minimum amount of labor and due to its flexibility can be moved around without difficulty from one charging point to another. It is apparent that the handling of the ladle may be manual labor where desired.

What IV claim is:

1. 1n apparatus for charging glass furnace pots, the combination with a suitable frame, of a batch supply receptacle carried thereby, a if'ertically undulating track on said frame, a carriage on said track, and a tiltable ladle mounted on said carriage whereby said ladle may be brought into position to receive the batch from said receptacle advanced into the furnace and lifted to avoid striking the edges of the pot and tilted to discharge the batch into said pot.

2. 1n apparatus for charging glass furnace pots, the combination with a suitable frame, of a batchsupply receptacle carried thereby, a carriage, a tiltable horizontally swinging ladle mounted thereon adapted to be brought into position to receive the batch from the receptacle, means for advancing said lad-le in a straight vertical plane into the' furnace, and means for further advancing said ladle when in the furnace and si= multaneously tl-ierewi-th sii'inging the same horizontally and tilting the sanie whereby the batch discharged into one of said pots.

In appzuatus for cl'iarging glass furnace pots, the con'ibination with a suitable frame, of a batclrsupply receliitarle carrieifl thereby, vertical undulating-tracks on said frame,- one above the other, a carriage mounted on said tracks, a horizontally s\'vinging -tiltable ladle mounted on said carriage, and means for tilting said ladle, whereby said ladle is brought into position to receive the batch from said receptacle advanced through the furnace opening, raised above the pots, swung into position and tilted over one of said pots.

1411i apparatus for charging glass furnace pots, the combination with a suitable frame, of a batch-supplying receptacle earriod thereby, vertical iindulating-tracks on said frame,- a cz'irriage on said` tracksIn means for (flriving. said carriage, a horizontally swingingtiltable ladle mounted on said carriage, and means for `swinging said ladle in either directioi-i after it hase'ntered the furnace,4 and means for simultaneously tilting said ladle. Y

5. 1n apparatus for charging fu`rnace pots,l the combination with a -sui'tahie traine, of' a-batol='supply receptacle carried thereby, tracks on said frame, a Carriage mounted on said tracks, means for moving said carriage back and forth on said tracks, a housing swiveled to said carriage, a ladle carried by said housing, a pinion on said housing, a rack-segment engaged by said pinion, and means for swinging said housing to one side or the other.

6. In apparatus for charging glass furnace pots, the Combination with a suitable frame, of a batch-supply receptacle Carried thereby, tracks on said frame, carriage mounted on said tracks, means for moving said carriage to and fro thereon, a swiveled housing mounted on said carriage, a ladle carried by said housing, diverging guides, a switch, a. guide rail engaged by said housing whereby said housing may be directed by said switch to either one of said diverging guides.

In testimony whereof I, the said' FRANK E. TnoU'rMAN, have hereuntoset my hand.

FRANK E. TROUTM;\ N. Witnesses:

RoB'r. D. TOTTEN, H. HECK. 

